Extreme Ethical Rigidity expanded

Extreme Ethical Rigidity (EER) might be your modus operandi, but you cannot rely solely on one die-hard or party-line stance. You must, as all sorts of old sayings go, diversify your portfolio and divide your eggs among many baskets. Otherwise it's too easy to reach a conclusion that a purchase is acceptable and then -- whooosh! -- it's your money leaving you.

The opportunities for EER are all around us. Key to these is a) the notion that there is a a real and immutable Good, b) human knowledge is fallible, c) issues are impossibly complex, and d) one wrong step, one bad shampoo choice, could doom an entire species to extinction and your mother to slavery and cause the return of Brutalist architecture.

Shampoo's a good example. If you can manage to sufficiently freak out about shampoo, and I mean crying in the hair products aisle of Walgreens, then you are well on your way to the life of a tightwad. Bonus points if you leave without purchasing one.

What are the issues that come up with shampoo?
1. Ingredients: Are they known or suspected carcinogens? Do they cause breast growth in prepubescent children (lavendar)? Is the run-off safe for waterways? Can you use the grey water after you shower for your garden (note that you need not consider the likelihood of doing this, nor even if you have a garden)? Are the ingredients local? Are any of them endangered? What are the harvesting techniques? Are you allergic/will you break out in a rash? Does it smell good? Is it manufactured for your hair type? Are the ingredients manufactured? Organic? Free range? Vegetarian?
2. Manufacturer: How are their workers treated? Do they offer a living wage? Benefits? Do they support good graphic design? How's the lay-out? Who's the parent company? What are their values? Are they operating with transparency? Where are they located? Was is the discrepancy between the wages of the highest and lowest paid workers? How do they source their ingredients? What is the toxicity of their manufacturing process? How green is their headquarters? What is their creative process?
3. Packaging: Does it recycle? Is it made out of recycled material? What kind of energy goes into producing/recycling the product? How efficient is the design for transportation and manufacture? How pretty? Can it be reused for other things? Will you reuse it for other things?
4. Store: How much do they pay their workers? Benefits? How are workers treated? What is their commitment to the neighborhood/community in which they're located? Where do they source products from? What is their mission? Their values? What kind of building are they in? How is the energy they use produced? Do they run their air conditioning too cold and keep the doors open? Do they practice conservation? Are they pedestrian-oriented or do they pander to car-culture? If they have a parking lot, what have they done to minimize runoff? Is the building new or old? What is their footprint? How much waste do they produce?
5: Cost: Is it over $1? Then put it back.

See how easy this is? You've just avoided most purchases!